Research Article | Open Access

Volume 2023 |Article ID 0104 | https://doi.org/10.34133/plantphenomics.0104

Frost Damage Index: The Antipode of Growing Degree Days

Flavian Tschurr ,¹ Norbert Kirchgessner,¹ Andreas Hund,¹ Lukas Kronenberg,^1,2 Jonas Anderegg,^1,3 Achim Walter,¹ and Lukas Roth¹

¹Department of Environmental System Sciences, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
²Crop Genetics, John Innes Centre, Norwich, UK
³Department of Environmental System Sciences, Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland

Abstract

Abiotic stresses such as heat and frost limit plant growth and productivity. Image-based field phenotyping methods allow quantifying not only plant growth but also plant senescence. Winter crops show senescence caused by cold spells, visible as declines in leaf area. We accurately quantified such declines by monitoring changes in canopy cover based on time-resolved high-resolution imagery in the field. Thirty-six winter wheat genotypes were measured in multiple years. A concept termed “frost damage index” (FDI) was developed that, in analogy to growing degree days, summarizes frost events in a cumulative way. The measured sensitivity of genotypes to the FDI correlated with visual scorings commonly used in breeding to assess winter hardiness. The FDI concept could be adapted to other factors such as drought or heat stress. While commonly not considered in plant growth modeling, integrating such degradation processes may be key to improving the prediction of plant performance for future climate scenarios.